New Albaida
New Albaida is the colonial empire of Albaida in Argyria. It came into existence in 1862, with the conquest of the Kamec Empire by Albaidan conquistador Isadora la Campeadore. History Kamec Era The territory that constitutes most of New Albaida started out as the Kamec Empire, a native, Hither Olman empire in the west of Argyria. Like many native civilisations, it was culturally and magically advanced, but technologically backward. The Kamecs built an empire that lasted hundreds of years, swallowing smaller states and making them one of the larger powers on the continent, and they managed peaceful contact and trade with their colonial neighbours. Many of these colonies had come into being at about the same time, the products of private expeditions to Argyria organised by wealthy Feronians. The New Empires By the time that colonial empires started to look towards Argyria, most of Auria had already been conquered. Initial expansion into the area was targeted around the islands of the Cacao Sea. These islands were either uninhabited, or inhabited by very primitive humanoids who were easy to subdue and subsume. The Albaidans set up a large trading port on the island of Oplanta, and directed their activities in and around the Cacao Sea from here. Albaidan Influences The governor of Oplanta, a clever administrator named Waldo Mendoza, knew that his success would be determined by how much trade income he could bring in for the king. To this end, he promoted contact and trade with native populations. It was under Mendoza that a strong trading relationship was achieved with the Kamec Empire. Gold, silver and cacao would flow back to Albaida, and would buy the Kamecs finely-wrought swords and jewellery from Feronia. Trade became such an important fixture to both sides, that the Albaidans were given a concession within the city of Kamechan from which to administer their trade within the empire. The concession was managed by a prefect, and a small number of soldiers and priests were kept on hand. Martyrdom of St. Gilberto Relations flourished for a time between the Kamecs and the Albaidans, but all that came crashing down during the Feast of Tohil. As part of an annual ceremony to mark the start of summer, the Kamecs would sacrifice captives taken in war to the god Tohil. Normally, outsiders were forbidden to attend the ceremony, and the Albaidans assumed that it was cattle that was being sacrificed. However, one day in 1861, the Cuthbertine missionary Gilberto Paizanto stole away in secret to observe the feast firsthand with a handful of his acolytes. One by one, the priests cut the hearts out of the captives and fed them to a summoned daemon dressed as Tohil. Gilberto was horrified, and charged the temple with his acolytes. They killed the priests and freed the prisoners before banishing the bloodthirsty daemon. The Kamecs were enraged at this insult to their gods, and swarmed the missionaries, tearing them limb from limb. One acolyte managed to escape back to the Albaidan concession, and told the prefect what had happened. Presently, the concession was attacked by angry Kamecs. The prefect evacuated all of the Albaidans he could onto the ships in harbour, but many were left behind when the gates were broken open and the Kamecs swarmed in. In their rage, the Kamecs slaughtered every Albaidan they could find and razed the concession. Some Albaidans sought sanctuary in the church of St. Cuthbert, but this was burned by the Kamecs in a huge pyre that could be seen from rapidly departing ships. Some of the ships also came to grief as Kamec priests threw fireballs and summoned lightning to smite them. First Albaidan Expedition The refugees from Kamechan who reached Oplanto brought harrowing tales of violence, daemon summoning, and cannibalism with them. The governor, Ferrando Mendoza, was moved to wrath by the actions of the Kamecs and immediately assembled a force of Albaidan soldiers for a punitive expedition. A fleet of 40 ships and 5,000 men set off for revenge against Kamechan. However, the Kamecs had not been idle, and they laid a chain underneath the water. The Albaidan fleet bombarded Kamechan and sailed into the harbour to land troops. The Kamecs then raised the chain, trapping the Albaidan fleet. The Kamec priests then hurled magical and alchemical fire at the ships, burning many of them. Some Albaidans managed to swim ashore through a hail of arrows, but they were quickly butchered by Kamec warriors when they reached land. Some fled and reached a small fishing village where they were able to barter their possessions for a canoe to sail back to Oplanto. Of the 5,000 men in 40 ships who had sailed to Kamechan, only 7 returned in a single canoe. Second Albaidan Expedition The reaction in Oplanto to the failure of the first expedition was horror. With the governor dead and his army defeated, the Albaidans were powerless to defeat the Kamecs. Mendoza's daughter, a young officer named Isadora, sailed at once for the Old World, where she made a pilgrimage to ancient Rythia and bent her knee before the Cuthbertine Pope. She pleaded for his aid in avenging her father, and delivering retribution upon the Kamecs. The pope granted her wish, and wrote to the King of Albaida, asking for support. Similarly enraged, the king assembled a new fleet at once and, crewed by Cuthbertine zealots, it set out on its crusade to the New World. The holy fleet carried the pope's personal banner, and received aid and sustenance from all Albaidan ports to which it travelled. Eventually, it reached Kamechan. Seeing that the chain was still in the harbour, Isadora had her fleet bombard the city from afar with onagers and alchemist's fire. Kamechan burned, but the fleet did not anchor. Instead, Isadora led her ships along the coast, burning every Kamec city she came across, and eventually landing at a natural harbour now called Isadora's Landing. From the harbour, Isadora marched by land to Kamechan, with her fleet sailing in support. A mile from the walls of the city, she commanded her mages and priests to excavate a tunnel beneath the walls. Her fleet then bombarded the city again, and just as they finished, the crusaders burst out from their tunnels and set about butchering the unprepared Kamec. Over the course of the night, every single inhabitant of Kamechan who didn't flee was killed. The city was razed and the land sewn with salt. Every idol was destroyed, and the stones of the great temples were hewn apart. The Kamec priests were rounded up and hanged on a scaffold made from the only unburned wood left in the ruins of the city. Kamechan had fallen, and with an army of crusaders at her back, Isadora conquered the remains of the Kamec empire within a year, sparing those who converted to St. Cuthbert, and killing the rest. A new colonial capital was established at Isadora's Landing, and so great had been her conquest that she was named Viceroy of New Albaida. Expansion into Mocotan Region Isadora was vengeful, but proved a capable peacemaker once she had conquered the Kamec Empire. She governed the burning remains of her enemy well, and quickly started a new wave of colonisation that secure the land in her king's name. However, it was at this time that the rule of Orren Teraknian was getting too much for Sasserine, and Isadora was invited to free Sasserine from her tyrannical king. Isadora took a fleet and an army to Sasserine, and drove the Teraknians out. However, in doing so, she established Albaidan rule in Sasserine and Cauldron, and although it remained benevolent throughout the remainder of her viceroyalty, over the next 80 years, things got even worse in those formerly free cities. Scarlet Brotherhood Assault of the 1980's Over the following century, Isadora's successors as viceroy moved their capital to Sasserine. Albaidan rule became tyrannical, and sensing a weak target, the Scarlet Brotherhood set in motion plans to seize much of New Albaida during the middle of the 1980's. Brotherhood agents assassinated colonial officials, royals, and leading aristocrats all over the Albaidan Empire. The king only narrowly survived an attempt on his life. The brotherhood assaulted and successfully conquered the eastern half of New Albaida, and aided the revolution that restored independence to Sasserine and Cauldron, and resulted in the death of the then viceroy, Diego Montego d'Albaida. New Albaida Today After the fall of the colonial capital in Sasserine, and with no central direction, the governors of Isadora's Landing and Oplanto each declared themselves viceroy. There have been several skirmishes between their followers since, but with no direction from the capital, both still claim the title of Viceroy of New Albaida. Rulership *Isador Mendoza, Governor of Isadora's Landing and self-proclaimed Viceroy of New Albaida *Paolo Fortamundi, Governor of Oplanto and self-proclaimed Viceroy of New Albaida Important Settlements and Sites *Oplanto, a large trading city in the Cacao Sea and former colonial capital *Isadora's Landing, the largest city in the viceroyalty and former colonial capital *Kamechan, a ruined and haunted city upon which nothing nothing wholesome grows Category:Place Category:Region Category:New World Category:Argyria Category:Albaida Category:County